Empowering tomorrow's educators: Critical literacy journeys of pre-service English teachers

The current longitudinal qualitative research explored the development of pre-service English teachers’ perspectives on critical literacy and critical pedagogy throughout the Critical Reading and Writing course. The data were collected through a text selection questionnaire, pre-course and post-course critical consciousness questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. At the beginning, a text selection questionnaire was administered to identify social issues relevant to the target teacher candidates’ lives. Based on the results obtained from the text selection questionnaire, the texts which are about women, virtual education, censorship and future anxiety were chosen to be used in the course. The critical consciousness questionnaires assessed shifts in understanding and attitudes toward critical literacy and pedagogy over the course and semi-structured interviews provided in-depth insights into the pre-service English teachers’ perspectives and experiences. The data were analyzed using content analysis to interpret the qualitative findings. The findings indicate a notable change in the students’ perspectives toward integrating social issues into English teaching. They developed more positive attitudes toward a more critical language education approach including social issues and empowering learners to be the agents of change. The participants also demonstrated improved understanding of critical pedagogy, and recognition of the transformative role of English teachers. According to the results, it is likely that these pre-service teachers will be able to integrate critical literacy activities and social awareness into their future teaching practices.